Polymeric tape with tear cuts

ABSTRACT

A polymeric tape comprises a facestock extending lengthwise, the facestock including a polymer. An adhesive layer is on a first surface of the facestock. Tear-cuts are formed into at least one longitudinal edge of the facestock and extending inwardly, the tear-cuts being provided all along the at least one longitudinal edge of the facestock.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a polymeric tape of the type commonlyfound in rolls, and used for example as a marking tape, and to a methodof using polymeric tape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Polymeric tape is commonly used for a wide spectrum of applications suchas labelling, wrapping, packaging, sealing, masking, sticking to asurface, color-coding, etc. Such applications may be for variousindustries including medical, biomedical, industrial, electrical,electronic, construction, automotive, avionics, aerospace, scientific.Polymeric tape typically has a facestock having the capacity ofretaining ink. Accordingly, information may be inscribed on thefacestock marking tape to label things. In particular, polymeric markingtape, in which the substrate is a polymer, is used for its capacity toretain ink. Other types of tapes are used for sealing, securing orisolating objects such as electrical tape, packaging tape, duct tape,silicone tape, and others where facestocks in some of those tapes mightnot need to have a capability to retain ink. Yet in other applicationstapes might be used for sticking together objects or surfaces, such asdouble-sided tapes which might not require capacity of retaining ink orsuch as an adhesive transfer tape where the adhesive is containedbetween two support liners for a future removal of one of the supportliners and the transfer of the adhesive to a facestock.

A characteristic of some polymers is that they may stretch whensubjected to shear forces. Therefore, if a user wants to have a segmentof an elongated polymeric tape, such as in a roll of polymeric tape, theuser may need scissors or a knife to cleanly segment a portion of thepolymeric tape from the roll. Otherwise, by using manual force to rip ortear tape from a roll, a user may unduly stretch the tape, which mayresult in waves, loss of adherence, erratic shape, excessive length,among other things. In some cases, the polymeric films are rigid andtear-resistant making them difficult to tear manually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an aim of the present disclosure to provide a polymeric tape thataddresses issues related to the prior art.

Therefore, in accordance with the present disclosure, there is provideda polymeric tape comprising: a facestock extending lengthwise, thefacestock including at least a polymer, an adhesive layer on a firstsurface of the facestock, and tear-cuts formed into at least onelongitudinal edge of the facestock and extending inwardly, the tear-cutsbeing provided all along the at least one longitudinal edge of thefacestock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1A-1P are schematic sectional views of a polymeric tape inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A-2D are schematic sectional views of the polymeric tape inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3D are face views of the of the polymeric tape in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A-4F are schematic sectional views of the polymeric tape inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A-5C are schematic sectional views of the polymeric tape inaccordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 6A-6E are schematic rear views of the polymeric tape withadditional perforations in a support liner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1A-1I, apolymeric tape in accordance with a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure is generally shown at 10. The polymeric tape 10 may be anelongated strip of tape or may be part of a roll. The polymeric tape 10may be of the type that may be used to manually inscribe informationthereon. The tape roll 10 may also be of the type used by a printer.Some printers such as thermal printers are equipped with a cuttingmechanism which is a sharp knife that moves perpendicular to the feedingdirection of the printer and segments the desired length of the tape.Other devices such as tape dispensers are also equipped with cutting,dispensing and in some cases peeling mechanisms. Although the tape 10 isprimarily intended for manual cutting we contemplate the possibilitythat the tape 10 can be also cut, dispensed and/or peeled using varioustypes of cutters incorporated into printers, mechanical or electricaldispensers and automation or robotic devices.

The polymeric tape 10 may have various layers, all of which may extendfrom end to end of the polymeric tape 10, i.e., along a lengthwisedirection projecting out of the page of FIGS. 1A-1I. Facestock 11 is thesurface that can accept ink or printing, although the capability ofaccepting ink is not a requirement. This may include printing using athermal printer, a thermal-transfer printer, a direct-thermal printer, alaser printer, an inkjet printer, LED printer, UV printer, impactprinter, dot-matrix printer, laser-etching printer, flexographicprinter, offset printer or a printing press or any other type of printeror device capable of delivering ink on any of the surfaces of the tape.The facestock 11 itself may include one or more layers, includingtransparent and opaque layers, shielding layer(s), top coatings, inks,varnishes, laminations, wireless communication capabilities such as RFID(Radio Frequency Identification), NFC (Near Field Communication),Bluetooth and other types of wireless communication tags or a chip,sensor, electronic component, etc. The polymeric tape can be providedblank or printed with any background color or color indicator such asthermochromic ink, and/or image, and/or information and/or barcodeand/or alphanumeric markings, and/or indicia etc. The facestockmaterials can be made of a polymer. The facestock material(s) mayinclude but are not limited to polymers such as polypropylene, biaxiallyoriented polypropylene (BOPP), polyester (PET), polystyrene, vinylincluding polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinyl fluoride (PVF),acrylate, nylon, satin, polyolefin, polyethylene, polyimide, tyvek,composite materials, silicone, silicone rubber, rubber, syntheticrubber, latex thermoplastic films, thermoset plastics, plastic extrusionmaterials, and may also include cloth tissues, woven or non-wovenfabrics, foam, metallic foils such as aluminum foil, Velcro, degradableand soluble materials including biodegradable materials. The facestockmaterials include paper and polymer composites or combinations, clothand polymer composites or combinations, including layers of polymer andpaper and/or cloth, such that the paper or cloth is for examplelaminated with plastic. The tape 10 may be tamper evident and/ordestructible tape, “destructible” meaning that the tape can break intopieces or fragments upon attempt to remove it from the substrate that ithas been adhered. Some tamper evident features might include specificcuts and/or perforations within the facestock making it fragile andcausing tape rupture upon attempts to remove it after applying theadhesive tape to a substrate or a container. There are other types oftamper evident materials that can reveal the tampering and the tape 10may be made from such materials. Embossed, stamped foil, clear, opaque,transparent, translucent and/or reflective materials may also be usedfor the facestock 11. The polymers may be thermoplastics orthermosoftening plastics, i.e., plastic polymers that soften or becomemoldable when heated to a certain threshold temperatures, to solidifyupon cooling. The polymers may be thermoset plastics comprisingcross-linked polymers to form an irreversible chemical bond and maybecome non-moldable when heated. The facestock 11 may be selected tohave direct thermal printing capacity meaning that ink is incorporatedinside the facestock 11 or in its top coating. The ink may then bereleased upon heating the facestock layer 11 such as by a thermalprinter or a heat-emitting or heated instrument. The facestock 11 may befor example printed with a reversible or a non-reversible thermochromicink which may also be also incorporated inside the facestock or otherconstituent of the tape 10 such as inside the lamination or inside theadhesive. The use of a combination of printing methods is contemplated.All tapes 10 of the present disclosure may or may not accept writing bya pen, pencil, marker or any other instrument for manual writing.

An adhesive layer 12 may be coated on the underside of the facestock 11.A first support liner or release liner 13 may also be provided, fromwhich the adhesive layer 12 with the facestock 11 can be released. Inanother embodiment, the polymeric tape 10 may be linerless and wound onitself, such that the adhesive layer 12 adheres to the top surface ofthe facestock 11 from which it can be released. The release liner 13 maybe paper based, or polymer based, with contemplated polymers including apolyester (PET), polypropylene, bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)or any other type of a polymer. For example, the release liner 13 may bea silicone or fluorosilicone coated support on which the adhesive layer12 is harboured or retained, though other materials can be used,including waxes or other adhesive release coatings, etc, on a substrate.For example, if the support liner 13 is paper based, a low frictioncoating may be present to facilitate the peeling off of the facestock 11and adhesive layer 12 from the support liner 13. Accordingly, when therelease liner 13 is removed, the facestock 11 may be adhered to asurface, by the adhesive layer 12. In an embodiment, the facestock 11relies on static cling as an alternative to having the adhesive layer12. In another embodiment, the release liner 13 may have imagingproperties meaning that the manual writing with a pen or a pencil orwith any type of impact instrument or impact printer can create a copyof the image on the release liner 13. In this case, when the facestock11 is removed from the liner 13, the copy of the printed information orthe image remains on the release liner 13 similar to carbon-copying. Inanother embodiment, if the tape 10 has a paper facestock 11 and apolymeric release liner 13, the polymeric liner 13 will prevent theclean tearing of the tape 10, whereby the micro tear-cuts 20 asdescribed below into the liner 13 will facilitate the tearing. In FIG.1A, the liner 13 is shown having the same width W1 as the facestock 11and as the adhesive layer 12. In FIGS. 1B and 1C, the liner 13 has awidth that is greater than W1 such that the liner 13 extends beyond thefacestock 11 widthwise, at one edge of the facestock 12 (FIG. 1C), or atboth edges of the facestock 12 (FIG. 1B). By way of example, thepolymeric tape 10 may have a width W1 of at least 4.0 mm. In anembodiment, the dimension W1 is 12 mm±6 mm. In another embodiment thedimension W1 is 19 mm±9 mm. In another embodiment the dimension W1 isbetween 25 mm and 70 mm. In another embodiment the dimension W1 isbetween 70 mm and 110 mm. These dimensions are given as examples.

Optionally, an undercut 13′ may be defined in the liner 13 and mayextend lengthwise. The undercut 13′ may also be referred to as a slit,as a through-cut, etc. In an embodiment, the undercut 13′ does not cutinto the facestock 11 (it may leave a mark). The undercut 13′ mayfacilitate the peeling off of the liner 13 from the facestock 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1D to 1F, it is contemplated to add neutralizedadhesive zones 14 on along one or both edges of the facestock 11. Theneutralized adhesive zones 14 can be defined by the adhesive layer 12being exposed to a neutralizing agent in these zones 14. In anembodiment, the neutralizing agent is used during production by liftingthe facestock 11 with adhesive 12 from the support liner 13, applyingthe neutralizing agent and re-laminating the facestock 11 onto thesupport liner. As a result the adhesive 12 in zone 14 may lose orsignificantly diminish its adhesion properties. Regardless of when orhow it is applied, the neutralizing agent operates to reduce oreliminate (i.e. “neutralize”) the adhesive effect of the adhesive 12along the edges of the facestock 11, in the zones 14. This reduces thepeel strength of the facestock 11 only along its edge(s), and thus mayfacilitate peeling off facestock 11 from the liner 13. The neutralizingagent may be any suitable material to achieve such functionality.Non-limiting examples of the neutralizing agent include liquid solvents,such as varnishes (e.g. water-based, solvent-based, ultraviolet, LED UV,urethane, etc.), and inks (e.g. urethane, flexographic, UV, LED UV orother types of printing inks). The neutralizing agent may also beanother chemical applied in liquid or solid form. The neutralizing agentcan be applied using a printing plate to print along the adhesive sideof the tape 10. In an embodiment, a patterned adhesive may be appliedexcluding the zone 14, such that instead of neutralizing the existingadhesive the zone 14 may simply be without adhesive.

Referring to FIGS. 1G-1I, in various embodiments the support liner 13may be narrower than the facestock 11 and adhesive layer 12. This may beat both longitudinal edges of the tape 10 as in FIG. 1G, or on a singleside as in FIGS. 1H and 1I. There results a narrow strip of adhesivethat may be exposed, for adherence to the facestock 11 under it when thetape 10 is in a roll or coil. The exposed adhesive strip may helpkeeping the tape 10 in the roll and prevent unwinding and/or wobblingfrom side-to side.

In another embodiment, show with reference to FIGS. 1J-1P, the tape 10may have a piggy-back construction that includes a secondary releaseliner 13A which is attached to the liner 13 through another adhesivelayer 12A. The liners 13 and/or 13A may be an imaging liner meaning thatmarkings made on the facestock 11 can be transferred to the liner 13and/or 13A and have the image of the writings left on the release sideor siliconized side of the liner 13 and/or 13A. Such examples ofwritings can be a writing with a pen, pencil, marking pen, impactprinter, typewriter or a similar device that creates strong enoughimpact able to create an image on the imaging liner 13 and/or 13Aunderneath.

FIGS. 1A to 2D are schematic and may not be to scale. Although otherthicknesses are possible, some exemplary thicknesses are now given todefine one contemplated embodiment. The thickness of the facestock 11may be between 0.4 mil and 40 mil. In an embodiment featuring porous orspongy materials such as foam, the thickness of the facestock may bemore than 40 mils. The thickness of the support liner 13 may be between0.4 mil and 20 mils.

Referring to FIGS. 2A to 2D, the polymeric tape 10 is shown at leastpartially lengthwise, as extending in direction L. Only a segment of thepolymeric tape 10 is shown, as the polymeric tape 10 may extend farlonger in the direction L. The polymeric tape 10 is shown as havingmicro tear-cuts 20 transverse to the longitudinal (i.e., lengthwise)dimension of the polymeric tape 10, and this may be referred to as awidthwise direction, for example as shown by W1. The expression “micro”is used to indicate that the tear-cuts are thin to the point that theymay not even be visible. For example, the penetration of the cuts in thefacestock 11 may be in the micro scale, and may be as low as 0.01 mm.The micro tear-cuts 20 start from one or both of the elongated edges ofthe polymeric tape 10 and extend into the facestock 11 and/or thesupport liner 13, i.e., the penetration. Penetration refers to thelength of the tear-cuts 20 from the edge of the tape 10 or liner 13. Inan embodiment, the penetration is from 0.01 mm to 3.00 mm. It iscontemplated that the penetration could be less than 0.01 mm providedsuitable technology enables such penetration. The cuts into supportliner can be significantly longer and cover the entire edge of theexposed support liner. The micro tear-cuts 20 do not extend from edge toedge of the facestock of the polymeric tape 10, with the micro tear-cuts20 extending inwardly enough to reach the facestock 11. In FIGS. 2A and2B, it is shown that the tear-cut 20 in the facestock 11 extends into atear-cut 20 in the support liner 13. Stated differently, a tear cut 20may be made into the support liner 13, and may extend all the way to thefacestock 11. For example, such common tear-cut 20 is made with a singletooling maneuver.

In another embodiment, there may a perforation or multiple perforations20′, also referred to as micro-perforations, into the support liner 13.The perforations 20′ may be perpendicular to the unwinding direction ofthe tape 10 when in a roll, allowing a more controlled tearing of thetape. Such perforations 20′ into the support liner 13 may be alignedwith or be between the micro-cuts 20 or may be between only some ofthem. The perforations 20′ may be round in shape, though any other shapeis considered. In another embodiment, there may a perforation 20′ ormultiple perforations 20′ into the support liner 13 parallel to theunwinding direction of the tape 10 when in a roll, allowing a morecontrolled tearing of the tape 10. The micro-perforations 20′ can besmall dots or needle-holes or small cuts in a string or line, themicro-perforations 20′ being close to each other to help cut the desiredsize segments of the tape 10. Furthermore, the micro-perforations 20′ ofany shape or form can be aligned with the tear cuts 20 of any shape orform to facilitate the manual cutting or segmenting the tape 10. In anembodiment, the micro-perforations 20′ do not perforate through thesupport liner 13. Instead, micro-embossings are formed in the supportliner 13, and may weaken the support liner 13 to faciliate its tearingalong the micro-embossings.

Referring to FIGS. 2C and 2D, an exemplary embodiment shows acombination of tear cuts 20 and perforations 20′. A tear cut 20 isformed into the support liner 13. Perforations 20′ are in line with thetear cut 20 and extend widthwise. One such perforation 20′ communicateswith a tear cut 20 in the facestock 11. Therefore, a user may tear thesupport liner 13 as guided by the tear cut 20. The perfortions 20′aligned with the tear cut 20 direct the tear to the tear cut 20 in thefacestock 11.

The micro tear-cuts 20 may be present in the polymeric tape 10 of anyone of FIGS. 1A to 2D. Moreover, in a configuration in which the supportliner 13 is wider than the facestock 11 and extends beyond it (e.g.,FIGS. 1B and 1C), the micro tear-cuts 20 may extend from the lateraledge of the polymeric tape 10 defined by the support liner 13, andextend continuously into the facestock 11, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.The micro tear-cuts 20 may be interrupted, and followed up byperforations 20′. This may be found in a polymeric tape 10 in which thesupport liner 13 is wider than the facestock 11. In an embodiment, themicro tear-cuts 20 are perpendicular to the longitudinal edges of thepolymeric tape 10, though other transverse relations may be used aswell, such as between 30 degrees and 150 degrees from the longitudinaledges depending of the end-use cutting angle requirements. Therefore,angled cuts 20 may also be used. As another possibility, the microtear-cuts 20 may cut through only the facestock 11, only the supportliner 13, or both. The micro tear-cuts 20 may be straight lines, as anexample. However, other shapes may be used for the micro tear-cuts 20,such as arrow shape, dots, semi-circle, square, rectangle, triangle,polygon, atypical, non-symmetrical, etc.

FIGS. 2A to 2D may not be to scale, being instead provided to illustratethe depth, location and/or orientation of the micro tear-cuts 20. Forexample, the micro tear-cuts 20 may be closer to one another, e.g., aslow as 0.7 mm of spacing along the longitudinal edge, and/or as high as10 mm (though the step may be outside of this range), but in anembodiment at most 6.5 mm. This may be referred to as the step betweencuts 20. Moreover, micro tear-cuts 20 may be distributed at a regularlyspacing along the length L of the polymeric tape 10, not just at the twodiscrete locations of FIGS. 2A to 2D, i.e., the step may be constant ormay vary.

The polymeric tape 10 may be a length of tape, or may come in a roll aswell. The polymeric tape 10 provides a user the possibility ofconveniently tearing the desired length of the tape 10 by the user,because of the presence of the tear-cuts 20 all along the tape 10. Whena user applies a tearing or shearing force, the tear cuts 20 define tearweaknesses along the longitudinal edges of the polymeric tape 10, whichprevent the excessive stretch, and guide a tear along a path initiatedby one of the micro tear-cuts 20. Whether the tear-cuts 20 are in thefacestock 11 and/or the liner 13 (if present), the tear line of asegment of the tape 10 will be relatively clean in comparison to asimilar tape but without the tear-cuts 20.

The method for using the polymeric tape 10 may include unrolling thepolymeric tape 10 from a roll, if in a roll; applying a tearing force ata desired length of the polymeric tape 10, which tearing force willpropagate in the facestock 11 and/or liner 13; adding information on theinformation-receiving facestock 11 of the torn segment of the polymerictape 10; removing the support liner 13 from the torn segment of thepolymeric tape 10 to expose an adhesive surface; and/or pressing theadhesive surface of the polymeric tape 10 against an object. These stepsmay be achieved in any particular order. In case of a linerless tape,such as a self-wound tape, a step of removing the support liner would beomitted and the tearing of the adhesive coated tape facestock can beachieved through initiating a cutting through a tear-cut and proceedingto applying the adhesive facestock to a surface by pressing tape toagainst an object.

One purpose of the polymeric tape 10 is to facilitate the manual tearingor cutting of a polymer tape optionally on a support liner whichotherwise is difficult because of the nature of the polymer that willstretch or be rigid enough to resist to tear. The micro tear-cuts 20 inthe polymeric material of the facestock 11 and/or the support liner 13will allow an initiation of a break on the edges of the tape facestockand support liner (if present) and the break (e.g., tear strip) willcontinue through the polymer of the facestock 11 and/or the supportliner 13.

In an embodiment, the tear-cuts 20 may be torn in the support liner 13as a first step to allow the facestock 11 to be peeled off the liner 13without tearing the facestock 11. In another embodiment, the supportliner 13 may have slits extending widthwise to facilitate the peelingoff.

By way of further examples, FIGS. 3A to 3D show different embodiments ofthe polymeric tape 10 of the present disclosure. In FIG. 3A, thepoymeric tape 10 of FIG. 1B is shown, with the micro-tear-cuts 20extending from the longitudinal edges of the support liner 13 and intothe lateral edges of the facestock 11. In FIG. 3B, the polymeric tape 10of FIG. 10 is shown, with the micro-tear-cuts 20 extending from thelongitudinal edges of the support liner 13 and into the lateral edges ofthe facestock 11 on one side, and with the micro-tear-cuts 20 extendingconcurrently from both the longitudinal edges of the facestock 11 andsupport liner 13 on the other side. In FIG. 3C, the polymeric tape 10 ofFIG. 1D is shown, with the micro-tear-cuts 20 extending from thelongitudinal edges of the support liner 13 and into the lateral edges ofthe facestock 11. In FIG. 3D, the polymeric tape 10 of FIG. 1F is shown,with the micro-tear-cuts 20 extending from the longitudinal edges of thesupport liner 13 and into the lateral edges of the facestock 11 on oneside, and with the micro-tear-cuts 20 extending concurrently from boththe longitudinal edges of the facestock 11 and support liner 13 on theother side. The micro tear-cuts 20 may be straight lines, as an exampleor plurality of cuts interrupted by uncut areas such asmicro-perforations, as exemplified in FIGS. 6C and 6D. Other shapes maybe used for the micro tear-cuts 20, such as arrow shape, dots,semi-circle, square, rectangle, triangle, polygon, atypical,non-symmetrical, etc. The micro-perforations form tear strips, that mayor may not be aligned with the micro tear-cuts 20.

In other embodiments, shown in FIGS. 4A to 4F, the polymeric tape 10might have an adhesive layer 12 coated on both the underside and upperside of the facestock 11. Such a tape 10 with two layers of adhesive 12may be referred to as double-sided tape or double-sided mounting tape.In an embodiment, the double sided tape may have static clingcapabilities on one side or both sides, and this may be regarded as anadhesive, for the sake of the present disclosure. Such double-sided tape10 may or may not have a support liner 13 on one or both sides of thetape or might not comprise a support liner(s) applied on the undersideand/or upper side adhesive layers 12. FIGS. 4A to 4F show differentconfigurations with the support liner 13 being the same width or widerthan the facestock 11. The various configurations of micro-tear cuts 20described herein apply to the double-sided tape 10. The micro tear-cuts20 (including perforations) may be on one or both liners 13, when thetape 10 has two liners 13. The double-sided tape 10 may come in a roll.

As the tape 10 in its various embodiments may come in a roll, it iscontemplated to provide a layer or strip 15 of adhesive to assist theroll in maintaining its coiled shape, for instance for the roll not tounwind or cone axially. FIGS. 5A to 5J show various embodiments ofconfigurations of the tape 10 described above, with the layer or strip15 of such adhesive. Therefore, reference numerals are in accordancewith those of the preceding figures. In FIGS. 5A to 5N, there are showntwo cross-sections of the tape 10, i.e., one on top of the other, insimilar fashion to the arrangement of the tape 10 in a roll, the tape 10being rolled on itself. The layer or strip 15 of adhesive may be betweenthe facestock 11 and/or support liner 13, etc. In an embodiment, theadhesive of the layer or strip 15 is a low tack adhesive that may beremovable and/or repositionable. In another embodiment, the adhesive ofthe layer or strip 15 is a static cling. In another embodiment, theadhesive of the layer or strip 15 is a coating and/or a varnish that hasa property to prevent slippage and unfolding of the coils of the tape.The location of the strips 15 may vary as well, as it may be morecentral, etc. The location to the left-hand side (e.g., FIG. 5B) isshown as an example.

In another embodiment, it is contemplated to provide additionalperforations 20′ in the liner 13 only, as shown in FIGS. 6A to 6E. Suchadditional back-side perforations 20′ are for helping directional cutinitiated with the micro tear-cuts 20 so that the resulting cut segmentsof the tape 10 are more straight. The views in FIGS. 6A-6E are rearviews and would only show the liner 13 (the facestock 11 being hidden).For clarity though, the demarcation of the facestock 11 is shown. FIGS.6C and 6D show that there may be an intermittence of perforations 20′,known as tear-strips as well, extending up to the facestock 11 (as inFIGS. 2C and 2D), while others extend from side to side of the supportliner 13. As shown in FIG. 6E, the perforations 20′ may extend in thelongitudinal direction in the support liner 13, instead of extendingwidthwise as in FIGS. 6A to 6D.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A polymeric tape comprising: a facestockextending lengthwise, the facestock including at least a polymer, anadhesive layer on a first surface of the facestock, and tear-cuts formedinto at least one longitudinal edge of the facestock and extendinginwardly, the tear-cuts being straight and being transverse to the atleast one longitudinal edge, the tear-cuts being provided all along theat least one longitudinal edge of the facestock, the tear cuts beingsingle slit cuts from the at least one longitudinal edge of thefacestock, wherein the tear-cuts are the only penetrations in thefacestock and are invisible to the human eye.
 2. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 1, further comprising a support liner releasablyadhered to the adhesive layer, the support liner covering an entirety ofthe first surface of the facestock.
 3. The polymeric tape according toclaim 2, wherein tear-cuts are formed in the support liner, the tearcuts being single slit cuts from the at least one longitudinal edge ofthe support liner.
 4. The polymeric tape according to claim 3, whereinthe support liner is wider than the facestock such that the supportliner extends beyond at least one of the at least one longitudinal edgeof the facestock widthwise.
 5. The polymeric tape according to claim 2,further comprising a low tack adhesive on a surface of the support lineropposite a surface having the adhesive layer.
 6. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 2, further including micro-perforations forming tearstrips extending widthwise in the support liner.
 7. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 6, wherein the micro-perforations forming tear stripsare aligned with tear cuts extending from at least one longitudinal edgeof the support liner, and into the support liner.
 8. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 6, wherein the micro-perforations forming tear stripsare aligned with the tear cuts in the facestock.
 9. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 2, including slits in the support liner.
 10. Thepolymeric tape according to claim 2, wherein the support liner ismounted to another support liner by another adhesive layer in apiggyback construction.
 11. The polymeric tape according to claim 2,wherein the support liner has a width that is equal to a width of thefacestock.
 12. The polymeric tape according to claim 1, wherein thepolymeric tape is a double-sided tape having another adhesive layer on asecond surface of the facestock.
 13. The polymeric tape according toclaim 12, further comprising at least one support liner releasablyadhered to the adhesive layer and/or to the other adhesive layer. 14.The polymeric tape according to claim 13, wherein a low tack adhesive isbetween the support liners of superposed sections of the polymeric tape.15. The polymeric tape according to claim 14, wherein the low tackadhesive is a strip that covers only a portion of a width of the supportliners.
 16. The polymeric tape according to claim 13, wherein at leastone of the support liners has tear-cuts.
 17. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein adjacent tear-cuts are spaced apart by atmost 6.5 mm.
 18. The polymeric tape according to claim 1, wherein thepolymeric tape is wound into a roll.
 19. The polymeric tape according toclaim 1, further comprising a support liner releasably adhered to theadhesive layer, and strips of perforations in the support liner only.20. The polymeric tape according to claim 19, wherein the strips ofperforations are aligned with the tear cuts.
 21. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the tear-cuts are on both of thelongitudinal edges of the facestock.
 22. The polymeric tape according toclaim 1, wherein the facestock includes one or more of thermoplasticfilm, silicone rubber, metal foil, cloth, foam, cellulose fibers. 23.The polymeric tape according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive layer is astatic cling surface.
 24. The polymeric tape according to claim 1,wherein a portion of the adhesive layer along at least one of thelongitudinal edges is neutralized.
 25. The polymeric tape according toclaim 1, further including a varnish and/or an ink and/or anink-receptive coating on the facestock.
 26. The polymeric tape accordingto claim 1, further including at least one electronic component in,under or on the facestock.
 27. The polymeric tape according to claim 1,further comprising a support liner releasably adhered to the adhesivelayer, wherein the support liner is narrower than the facestock suchthat a narrow strip of the adhesive layer along the at least onelongitudinal edge of the facestock is exposed.
 28. The polymeric tapeaccording to claim 1, wherein the facestock has a thickness rangingbetween 0.4 and 12 mil.
 29. A polymeric tape comprising: a facestockextending lengthwise, the facestock including at least a polymer, thefacestock having a thickness of 12 mil or less, an adhesive layer on afirst surface of the facestock, and tear-cuts formed into at least onelongitudinal edge of the facestock and extending inwardly, the tear-cutsbeing straight and being transverse to the at least one longitudinaledge, the tear-cuts being provided all along the at least onelongitudinal edge of the facestock, the tear cuts being single slit cutsfrom the at least one longitudinal edge of the facestock, wherein thetear-cuts are the only penetrations in the facestock and are less than8% of a total width of the facestock, and wherein adjacent tear-cuts arespaced apart by at most 6.5 mm.
 30. The polymeric tape according toclaim 29, wherein the tear cuts penetrate from the at least onelongitudinal edge of the facestock inwardly into the facestock by 0.01mm to 3.00 mm.